We talked a while ago about proposals afoot in Trenton that would essentially make the one-gun-a-month law in New Jersey meaningless. That proposal has cleared a major hurdle. That it would boil down to one more form you had to fill out, one more hassle. We’re supposed to believe that illegal gun traffickers are going down to their local police, filling out the paperwork for a permit. Submitting fingerprints, going through a multi-point FBI background check, getting their friends and neighbors interviewed, all to sell guns on the streets on Trenton and Newark. We’re also supposed to believe, now, that this one extra form for multiple purchases is going to be what breaks this cycle of gun trafficking.
“This is a common sense compromise that does nothing to impair the goal of protecting public safety by keeping criminals from obtaining multiple weapons at once,” Burzichelli said. “These changes would correct some unintended consequences while also protecting law-abiding citizens and legitimate businesses.”
Johnson said, “These changes would allow us to continue targeting straw purchases and other illegal handgun trafficking, but would provide reasonable exemptions that make sense. In the end, these changes are simply clarifications that don’t interfere with protecting public safety and combating handgun trafficking.”
Don’t get me wrong, it’s better to make the changes than not, but the fact that they can say, with a straight face, that all the hoops New Jersey makes gun owners jump through doesn’t work well to combat gun trafficking, but this one extra form is certain to do the trick.
If it’s not obvious at this point that the emperor has no clothes, I don’t know what will convince people.
Useless and pointless. The description of it says the application for an exemption is made per purchase, at the superintendent’s discretion. What incentive does he have to grant in a timely fashion? If it takes him too long, you may as well just buy one now and another in 30 days.
Besides, it’s not like you can buy a pistol on the spur of the moment NOW. Both of the exemptions implicitly assume an unplanned event – that a non-C&R-FFL has a sudden need to purchase more than one pistol in a 30-day timeframe. But in NJ, it is essentially impossible to not know well in advance of 30 days when you will be allowed to buy a pistol; you may as well just put in for multiple permits and wait the extra 30 days to execute the second. This isn’t just a pointless law, it’s actively hostile in that it appears to grant relief in such a way that it can never happen.
Also, note that the superintendent is NOT the person to whom you apply to ge tthe actual pistol permit.
This is a stupid feel-good addition to a stupid feel-good law that will have no real effect on gun trafficing, but will add yet another stupid feel-good hoop for law-abiding firearms owners to jump through.
This is just another money grab…. Pay for NICS check when you apply for a permit then pay for a NICS check with each purchase. $15 a shot it slowly adds up.. for Trenton that is. At the same time frustrating potential handgun buyers.
Actually, from what I understand the fees for the paperwork (statutorially set at $2 and $5 for permits and FID cards) do *not* pay the freight for the checks needed to be done. There was a bill proposed last session to just go to straight-up NICS for everything (and take the SBI out of it) to save the state money.
(I’ve only paid a NICS fee at the point of sale – the permits and FIDs cost me the statutory cost + approx $70 per person per application to the SBI for the BG check. I’d rather pay an $15 NICS fee when getting a permit)